1. Court Search Exercise
Florida Sen. Matt Gaetz is a politician who has been in the news a lot over the last couple of years – from the coronavirus to gun control and even weighing in on the President’s impeachment. Gaetz is from Okaloosa County, Florida, and has had some hiccups in his record, which get brought up in Twitter wars with him often. You can see some of that here (Links to an external site.).
The Twitter wars often allege Gaetz had multiple DUIs that his father had dismissed. For this assignment, you’ll do research to see if that’s true!
For this assignment, please go to the Okaloosa County Clerk of Courts site (Links to an external site.) and search for Matthew Gaetz (Search Last name, First name). Remember, there could be more than one person with that name, so be sure to check for a middle name/middle initial and compare date of births.
What records did you find? Be sure to list the dates of any charges and dates of outcomes, if given. What would you respond to the allegation that Gaetz had multiple DUIs, which were all dismissed?
There is no length requirement, but you must discuss your ideas thoroughly. This cannot be done in one-two sentences.
2. Crime Reporting – Editing Exercise
Please download this Word document and be sure to turn on tracked changes so that your edits are recorded.
Go though this document to check for grammar/AP Style and the language and methods of crime reporting you read about in the Prezi and PowerPoint this week. Remember to also format this according to class formatting guidelines found in the Course Resources module.
Once you are finished, save your document JRN2201_CrimeEditing_LastNameFirstName and upload it to this assignment.
3. Crime Statistics Exercise
Looking at crime statistics can help good investigative reporters spot trends and evaluate if new procedures/laws are working. Please look at the ALEA crime reports from the last four available years for your home counties. If you aren’t from Alabama, use Pike County or Montgomery County for your comparison.
What sorts of crime has been reported in your counties? Do you notice trends of certain crimes going up or down? As a reporter, what questions do these statistics bring up and what stories might you think about reporting?
There is no length requirement, but you must discuss your ideas thoroughly. That cannott be done in one-two sentences.
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